Can we rely on HAL telephone reps?

[are wehavingfunyet]

We are scheduled to land in La Goulette, Tunisia on a Monday. We have booked the "Best of Tunisia" excursion. This tour includes the Bardo Museum, which I have read is closed on Mondays. I called HAL and asked about this. The shore excursion rep said if the Bardo was included in the excursion description, he was sure we would visit it. He suggested HAL had a "special" arrandment with the Bardo so that the museum would be opened for us. This sounded like nonsense to me. Any comments?

[kazu]

It is possible HAL does have special arrangements. They make them all the time for various events and locales. (ie a flamenco show that is not available to the public).

 

You might want to check your shore excursion brochure. At the bottom of the tour description, it should indicate if the museum is not availalbe on Mondays.

 

And you can always email shore excursions, so you have an answer in writing that you can take with you in case there is a discrepancy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We had this happen a couple of times -- we booked the tours -- then i did a research and discovered that the day we were to take the tour -- the places were closed

 

about 2 weeks before we were to leave for the cruise -- we got the e-mail -- the tours that we had selected would not be available on our cruise as the places would be closed on the days we were scheduled to be there

 

so -- good luck -- maybe they will have it open for private viewing

[KirkNC]

I hope you do get a chance to go, we really enjoyed the Bardo, unbelievable mosaics.

 

Kirk

[BumperII]

The cruise line keeps all the aces for themselves in these shore excursion deals. If you book an excursion and decide to cancel, they can charge you a ten percent fee. If they decide to cancel, the rules seem to be a little different.

We had two excursions cancelled on our last cruise. In each case, Hal sent us the cancellation notice with a suggestion that a specific alternative excursion was available. Long story short, we booked the alternative suggested excursions and were delighted with them. It is not a level playing field, but HAL likes to keep the pax happy. They realize a nice bit of revenue from these shore activities.

[kazu]

You can cancel on line without penalty up to 5 days before your cruise (I believe that is the right number of days)., so if you can determine if the museum is included or not, then you can make your decision and not have any penalty:)

[lvz2cruz]

Unfortunately HAL reps are not always in the loop on what's going on.

Yesterday I was emailing a friend who is a TA and I mentioned the Westerdam hitting the iceberg. She called HAL about it and they said it did not happen:confused:....

[Boytjie]

Unfortunately HAL reps are not always in the loop on what's going on.

Yesterday I was emailing a friend who is a TA and I mentioned the Westerdam hitting the iceberg. She called HAL about it and they said it did not happen:confused:....

 

Well was it an iceberg or just a chunk of ice? Technically the HAL rep was correct. ;)

[catl331]

Well was it an iceberg or just a chunk of ice? Technically the HAL rep was correct. ;)

How do you define what is a small iceberg and what is a large chunk of ice? I say if it's big enough to dent a large ship, it's an iceberg! :p

[RuthC]

It's very possible that HAL has made arrangements for their tour to visit the museum, even though it's not usually open that day.

When I was in Istanbul last year, we were able to visit the Hagia Sophia, even though it was "closed". The HAL tour got in.

I suggest you confirm the visit at the Shore Excursion Desk when you board the ship. If the visit will not be as planned, then you can cancel that day without penalty. Don't put it off, though, or the penalty applies.

[RuthC]

How do you define what is a small iceberg and what is a large chunk of ice? I say if it's big enough to dent a large ship, it's an iceberg! :p

I was under the impression that there are specific sizes as to "bergie bits", "growlers", and "ice bergs".

[Mary Ellen]

I was under the impression that there are specific sizes as to "bergie bits", "growlers", and "ice bergs".

That's also what we've been told on our Antarctic and Arctic cruises.

Iceberg Size Classifications:

Growler – less than 3 ft height, less than 16 ft long

Bergy Bit -3-13 ft height, 15-46 ft long

Small – 14-50 ft height, 47-200 long

Medium – 51-150 ft height, 201-400 long

Large – 151-240 ft height, 401-670 long

Very Large – Over 240 ft height, Over 670 long

[Cbears]

The three times I have called HAL I have been disappointed in the reps knowledge, attitude or both. Likely they are low paid call center workers and reading from 'scripts'.

The last time I called and asked about their Luggage Direct service, the rep barely knew what it was. I was asking if it was available in Vancouver (its not anymore) and she said, "no it never has been", then she said "oh thats only for if your cruise is leaving from vancouver and you want your luggage flown to Alaska". Seriously. Then she put me on hold for a good 15 minutes while she talked to someone who knew the answer.

At least she wasn't rude like the guy in accessible cruising dept. He definitely works in the wrong place.

I read somewhere that most of the people manning the phones have never stepped foot on a cruiseship.

[sail7seas]

Off topic but......

 

Love your new Avatar, Ruth.

Nice. :)

 

Yes. We, too, have seen occasions when an attraction was closed to the public but HAL excursion department had made arrangements for HAL guests to tour.